Granite Cliff Studio

Luke Schaftary is a native Wisconsite. His midwest roots and family upbringing created a love for the outdoors. Summers in Wisconsin involved camping, fishing and exploring, while winters were spent skiing, playing hockey and shoveling. For an artist, seasons can be very influential, the always changing scenery helped Luke develop an eye for landscape and nature photography.

As a young man Luke traveled throughout the National Parks of the United States, taking odd jobs, in able to spend time in these natural treasures. Most of his 20’s were spent around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the Grand Canyon and Denali, Alaska. Luke’s early photography was mostly point and shoot cameras. After reading many books about John Muir and Ansel Adams, Mr. Schaftary, became more focused on photography as an art and a way to create an emotional reaction. His style has been diverse but strives to make everyday images look and feel different than what the eyes say.

Luke has been a writer his whole life, in high school he was an editor for the newspaper and was frequently printed in local newspapers. With photography, the image and the story behind that image are not always synchronized. That is why Luke enjoys a little mo’olelo (Hawaiian word for story telling) to go with all his fine art images.

In Luke’s young adult life he also grew a passion and learned skills in printing, graphic design and developing film. Not only does he like to take the image but he likes to create with it. Whether that be on velvet fine art paper or a greeting card the whole process intrigues him. From the moment the art is created to the moment it is enjoyed by you, the creative process is what drives Mr. Schaftary.

The last decade Luke spent on the island of Maui, where he created the concept of Granite Cliff Studio and became a professional photographer. Whether it was scenes from tropical jungles or Polynesian voyaging canoes, Luke honed his craft and developed the style you see today. Now located in Yosemite Luke is able express his eye in ways the National Park has not seen before.